We are thrilled to have the wonderful Jai Ramage joining us as the panelist on our SOTA Lockdown Singers Challenge.

Jai is a freelance vocal coach who works in TV, theatre and the music industry.

Her TV work includes being a vocal coach on ‘The Voice UK’ for the BBC and ITV and also ‘The Voice Kids’ – so you never know… you may be talent spotted!

Jai has coached several successful pop artists and bands from the start of their creative journey through to world tours and multiple albums. In theatre, she coaches performers for leading West End roles and consults for several top theatrical agencies.

Jai also manages solo artist Flo Gallop and indie band Coral Palms.

Have you started practising or recording your song yet?

Whilst we are on lockdown, we want to challenge you creatively.

We are giving you an amazing opportunity to use this time to get creative, develop your choreography, singing and acting skills and to showcase your talents to some incredible industry professionals.

All of the creative challenges have something to do with themes we are all experiencing during this extraordinary time. Artists use the world around them to explore and create meaningful pieces of creative work. We want to encourage you to use themes like social distancing, self-isolation, lockdown, heroes working on the front-line, kindness in the community, what it’s like to live through a pandemic and personal freedom to create your pieces – and of course all the pieces you create will have been created during lockdown.

There are three challenges to enter and you can enter as many as you like!

The Choreography Challenge: choreograph your own dance exploring themes of lockdown, isolation and dreams of freedom.

The Singers Challenge: film yourself singing a song of your choice during lockdown that showcases your vocal talents.

The Actors Challenge: write and act to camera a monologue that explores or is inspired by an aspect of living through this pandemic.

Do you love singing? This is the challenge for you!

THE SINGERS CHALLENGE CHALLENGE:

Video yourself performing a song you have sung and recorded whilst in self isolation. If you can find a song that connects in some way to the experience of being in lock down or self isolating then great, but most importantly, we want you to showcase your vocal talents.

How long does it have to be?

Between 2 and 3 minutes is a good length.

Can I write my own song?

YES! Absolutely! You can also use a song that’s written by someone else.

How old should I be to enter The SOTA Lockdown Creative Challenge?

We have two age categories for each challenge.

Junior Creatives – Aged 6-10 years.

Senior Creatives – Aged 11-18 years.

Do I have to be a SOTA pupil to enter?

No. This challenge is open to all.

How long do I have to create my piece?

About three weeks. We would like all submissions to be sent to us by Fri 8th May.

How do I submit my pieces?

We would like you to use WeTransfer to send your video to us – It’s free and easy to use. Making sure that you instruct We Transfer to send your pieces to sotacreativechalllenge@gmail.com.

Are there ‘prizes’?

This isn’t a competition. It’s a challenge. An opportunity to be creative and to use the world around you to inspire your creativity and artistry and to share that creativity with the world.

Everyone who enters the challenge will receive a special certificate of participation.

We will be giving other awards for each challenge where the panelists feel there has been particularly outstanding work.

What will happen with my entry?

Entires will be submitted to us by Fri 8th May.

We will share entries on our website and across our social media platforms to showcase your talents, during the week of Mon 18th May to Sunday 24th May.